Rebels run past Cobras in playoff opener
Published 9:34 pm Thursday, February 27, 2025
Tate Goergen throws down a slam dunk for the Rebels. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
The Southland student section provides the cheer in Adams Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Henry Wiste attacks the hoop for the Rebels. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland’s Beau Sathre attacks the hoop against Yonis Mahamed of Rochester Math and Science Academy in Adams Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland’s Ethan Schammel attacks the hoop in Adams Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Maverick Hanna controls the ball for Southland. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland senior Noah Goergen glides past the Cobra’s defense for two points in a Section 1A playoff win in Adams Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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ADAMS – Southland senior Noah Goergen displayed exactly what led the No. 2 seeded Rebel boys basketball team to an undefeated regular season as Southland powered past No. 18 Rochester Math and Science (9-14 overall) by a score of 115-58 in a Section 1A opener Thursday.
Noah showed fire and unselfishness as he had 19 points in the first 10 minutes to lead the Rebels (27-0 overall) to a 46-15 lead. Instead of running up his point total, Noah slowed it down and watched every single one of his teammates score throughout the blow-out win.
“If you shoot all of the shots, you’re eventually going to get cold and it just ruins the team. Swinging the ball is how you score a lot of points and how you get those big games,” said Noah, who finished with 25 points, four assists and six steals. “It’s happened a few times this year where everyone gets in the (scorer’s) book. It’s one of those things that’s kind of agreed upon without saying it. We want to get everyone in the book and our coach loves to do it.”
Noah’s younger brother Tate, a sophomore, also did his part to give the Rebels a lift. Tate finished with 25 points, five steals and four assists and he added an exclamation point in the second half with a slam dunk that cleared the way for the reserves to come in.
Tate said he wants to keep playing with his older brother Noah for as long as possible.
“We really want to go state,” Tate said. “That just keeps us going and we’ve got to win all of these games to go to state. If you lose, you’ve got to go home and we don’t want to go home. You’ve got to have that fire.”
Maverick Hanna and Beau Sathre each added 10 points in the win for the Rebels.
Southland head coach Scott Koenigs wanted his team to come out with fire and they certainly answered the call.
“I had to send a little message. We weren’t super happy with the seeding and we’re trying to get the kids to understand that it’s one game at a time now and we’ve got to come out on a mission every time we come out,” Koenigs said. “There’s a lot of doubters out there. They didn’t take into account that we beat a AA team from Iowa and a AAA team from Wisconsin, but that’s water under the bridge at this point. We’re trying to get the kids to come out with a chip on their shoulder. They’re humble kids, but they’re hungry.”
Southland will now take on No. 7 Fillmore Central, which beat No. 10 Kenyon-Wanamingo 58-51 in a Section 1A quarterfinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Mayo Civic Center Auditorium.
RMS 28 30 – 58
Southland 72 43 – 115
Southland scoring: Noah Goergen, 25; Tate Goergen, 25; Maverick Hanna, 10; Beau Sathre, 10; Henry Wiste, 9; Cole Miller, 7; J.J. Smith, 6; Kaleb Yunker, 6; Brekken Koenigs, 4; Ethan Schammel, 4; Cam Forthun, 3; Bryson Kellogg, 2; Lucas Boe, 2; Kameron Horgeshimer, 2
RMS scoring: Burhan Ali, 22; Muad Ali, 11; Mohamed, Abdi, 6; Ali Mohamed, 5; Muhidin Ahmed, 3; Zakaria Kamal, 3; Rashid Jeylani, 2; Yonis Mahamed, 1
